Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty.” So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the frequent hospital visits and stints in rehab, there was five-year-old Matthew, who traveled from Montreal to Los Angeles, shuffling between his separated parents; fourteen-year-old Matthew, who was a nationally ranked tennis star in Canada; twenty-four-year-old Matthew, who nabbed a coveted role as a lead cast member on the talked-about pilot then called Friends Like Us... and so much more. In an extraordinary story that only he could tell—and in the heartfelt, hilarious, and warmly familiar way only he could tell it—Matthew Perry lays bare the fractured family that raised him (and also left him to his own devices), the desire for recognition that drove him to fame, and the void inside him that could not be filled even by his greatest dreams coming true. But he also details the peace he’s found in sobriety and how he feels about the ubiquity of Friends, sharing stories ab
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The actor behind Chandler Bing tells the story behind the laugh: a Canadian childhood, a runaway sitcom, decades of addiction, dozens of detoxes, and the colon explosion that nearly killed him.
Yes. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is Matthew Perry's 2022 memoir about his life, his Friends career, and his decades-long battle with addiction. It was Perry's only published book before his death in 2023.
The Big Terrible Thing in the title refers to addiction. Matthew Perry uses the phrase as a personal name for the disease he describes throughout the memoir. The book is unusually honest about relapses, near-deaths, and recovery.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing was written by Matthew Perry, published in 2022 by Cengage Gale.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is 272 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is a standalone novel by Matthew Perry, not part of a series.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.